Recent reviews not good

I've sailed 20 cruises on Celebrity and I'm considering my first cruise on Oceania due to a wonderful itinerary. I've read the Oceania reviews on Cruise Critic for the past few months and I must say the reviews are very negative. Has Oceania gone downhill or are these reviews just a fluke?

When reading reviews on CC I have to remind myself that they are not a representative sample. That said, the best way to find out for yourself is to take a cruise on O and then evaluate using your standards.

There has been a full discussion on this subject in the past 2 weeks. See This:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2279054

Don't know, as it's been a full year since we've cruised on Oceania. I can't imagine O being like Celebrity, but of course, I was only on Celebrity twice, same ship a year apart, and maybe I just didn't catch them at their best. Reviews from a new cruise line in April got me a little tiny bit worried, but once I got on the ship, I had a completely different experience, and so did plenty of others on the same cruise. I wouldn't worry....and I agree that you should try it and go from there. While many people are on Cruise Critic, there are many, many more who aren't, and they keep coming back again.

Since you have sailed 20 cruises on Celebrity (that should make you Zenith level? ) you have lots of perks that can't be beat by other cruise lines.

I love Celebrity (Elite) but I would take Oceania over Celebrity any day in spite of not getting all of the free stuff Celebrity offers. When you try Oceania you need to go in with an open mind instead of trying to compare everything. On my last cruise on Celebrity as we were waiting in the café for our rooms to be ready a passenger sat complaining how "on Princess they don't do this" or Princess this and that and he didn't even get to his cabin yet.

What I'm trying to say is some people can't be happy no matter what. I read some of the reviews and one person liked the ship but it got a bad rating because of the beer prices and other minimal stuff.

Try Oceania and enjoy. It may be a very nice change for you.

I've sailed 20 cruises on Celebrity and I'm considering my first cruise on Oceania due to a wonderful itinerary. I've read the Oceania reviews on Cruise Critic for the past few months and I must say the reviews are very negative. Has Oceania gone downhill or are these reviews just a fluke?

Don't know where all these negative reviews are coming from. I have not seen them. A few here and there but most are wonderful. WE have been on 8 and have 2 more booked and are looking for more. Best food at sea, best butlers and the most beautiful ships. I could find something to complain about if I try hard, maybe but all in all it O great. See for yourself. :):):)

Reading some of the reviews some people just have not done their research

what reviews are you concerned with??

comments like "the ship is small" "the cabins are small" their is no entertainment

you have to wonder if they did their research

some I am not sure they knew what ship they were on

one posted in the Regatta reviews but cabin # was for Riviera

I would try Oceania & decide for yourself

We love Marina and Riviera. Reviews have been uniformly excellent. No idea what the OP is referring to.

we love marina and riviera. Reviews have been uniformly excellent. No idea what the op is referring to.

ditto

Go on the trip, enjoy yourself than write a review. If you liked it you'll go again, if not-you won't. Only you can really make that call.

Rick

I recently posted my review of our cruise this past August on Marina, and it was very favorable although I did note some shortcomings. As you can see from my signature, we have another cruise booked already for next August -- again on Marina. That should give you some indication as to how much we enjoyed the Marina and the overall Oceania experience. IMO, a cruise (or any vacation for that matter) is what you make of it. We have sailed on NCL, RCI and Celebrity. All experiences were great for different reasons but if I had only considered the negative reviews, I would have never gone on any of those cruises. However, our first criteria in choosing a cruise is the itinerary and then the cruiseline.

Every cruise line has negative reviews of their ships. It's all in how we interpret those reviews. I suggest that you read the reviews with an open mind and weigh the negatives against the positives. Don't dwell too much on the negative things that have been written by someone you don't know anything about. Look at the positive things and see if they fit your particular style. Then take the Oceania cruise and form your own opinion. Chances are, you will question the naysayers.

We are Celebrity faithful but have enjoyed Oceania very much when they offered an itinerary we preferred. I do not see a conflict at all.

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My approach to reading reviews is to have a healthy grain of salt available. If a view is overly effusive or overly negative, I will discount much of what is said. If the review is written in a reasonable fashion (that is admitting pluses and minuses without getting too bent out of shape), I will give it more weight.

Even so, generally I don't know the person who wrote the review, so I really don't know how much to accept in what they say.

An example: Last April I arranged a private tour in Santo Tomas, Guatemala. The agency had wonderful reviews on Trip Advisor and were always prompt in answering questions. They wanted a 50% deposit which was refundable if the ship didn't make port. In fact, two passengers were victims of the virus that hit Marina and were last minute cancellations; their money was refunded.

But many of us were unhappy with certain aspects of the tour. We were supposed to visit a new Mayan site as the highlight of a tour. It was laughable. (If you want details, write to me privately.) We were all dissatisfied with this part of the tour, but for most of us there were other parts that made it worth the day's trip. But one couple was beyond incensed and hated everything. The review that most of us would have written would have been far different from the review this couple would have written.

Which one would you have believed? In fact, who would be correct? The unhappy couple absolutely believed they were totally correct. (And to their credit and my relief, they didn't blame me, they blamed the agency.)

Mura

I think Mura raises an interesting point. Two people sharing the same experience may take away very different impressions.

When I read reviews here, or on Tripadvisor, I ask myself if the things that thrilled or annoyed the writer would thrill or annoy me.

For example, I like the vibe and the quality of the experience on Oceania and on our last cruise I loved the Artists Loft. As a Brit I'm seriously annoyed by the 18% service charge on all alcoholic drinks even if I'm collecting a drink from the bar myself but I accept that as being part of the deal and I love that soft drinks are included. There are pros and cons.

What you have to consider is what is important to you.

Exactly what I was trying to get across, SellaVee!

It makes it more difficult in interpreting reviews. If someone is expecting an out-and-out rave sometimes only one negative review can be a tipping point.

For those of us who are regulars on Oceania (or any other line), a negative review probably isn't that crucial. For a newcomer who has never tried a line, any negative reviews can raise a large question mark. There's no way to assure such people because the line might well NOT be a good fit.

As many of said, do your research to see what the line offers. I have had pleasant cruises on NCL. It's not my favorite, but we have enjoyed our cruises. We much prefer O. We enjoyed our QE2 cruises as well, although those are long gone. I know we wouldn't want to try the likes of Princess, Royal Caribbean or Carnival these days*, but we are open to Celebrity (and of course Regent!)

*Of course, for the right itinerary and price....

Mura

Thanks, Mura. You always have calm, thoughtful, open-mined responses without a lot of cheerleading.

Thanks, Fred. I appreciate that!

Mura